Home buying companies

jolittlejohnhotmail

We have had our property on the market for around 6 months and cannot find a buyer.  We have dropped the price 3 times from £585,000 to £500,000.  We are desperate to move as we are re-locating up North.  Can any one recommend a fast way of selling? There is nothing wrong with our property. No subsidence issues, etc… Are there any homebuying companies who are trustworthy? If so should we take our property off the market before we approach them, so they don’t see the vastly reduced price?
Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

p00hsticks

Homebuying companies are in it for a quick profit from a quick turn around, so you'll end up getting much less than your would from a normal sale. As you say it is not  'problem' property you'd almost certainly be better off reducing the price with the usual estate agent. 

Have you asked them for their views on why it is not selling ? What sort of interest have you had up to now ? 

jolittlejohnhotmail

Thank you for your reply.
The agents say they have no idea why it’s not selling. It is a barn conversion, which apparently everyone wanted last year, but not this year.  We’ve only had 4 viewings, all saying they loved the property, but each finding some different, small reason why it wasn’t right for them.

BarelySentientAI

jolittlejohnhotmail said:

If so should we take our property off the market before we approach them, so they don’t see the vastly reduced price?

Don't worry about that, they'll do their own vast reduction anyway.  35% is not unheard of.

UnderOffer

Can you afford to reduce the price further? Any comparable properties nearby, what are they priced at?

jolittlejohnhotmail

Our property is now very competitively priced.  This is why I asked about removing it from the market before we approached any home buying companies.  We think they ask estate agents in the locality for valuations and would certainly look on RightMove to see its current asking price.  Then I think they reduce that by 30/35% 😕

eddddy

jolittlejohnhotmail said:

Our property is now very competitively priced.  This is why I asked about removing it from the market before we approached any home buying companies.  We think they ask estate agents in the locality for valuations and would certainly look on RightMove to see its current asking price.  Then I think they reduce that by 30/35% 😕

You probably need to take a step back and consider why the company would be buying your house.

Generally, it's because they want to flip it (resell it) in a back-to-back sale, at a profit.

A bit like a car dealer - a car dealer might pay you £8k for your car, with the goal of re-selling it for £10k.

• So the house buying company's starting point will typically be "What can we sell the house for within 7 to 14 days to a cash buyer?"

• That's unlikely to be £500k (because it's not selling at £500k at the moment) - so let's say £450k

• The house buying companies typically say they'll pay you 80% of market value (because they want a 20% profit margin)

• So they'll agree to pay you 80% of £450k is £360k (with £90k going to the house buying company)

• (And if the house buying can't get a buyer prepared to pay £450k, the house buying company will walk away from the deal)

So assuming the house buying company's valuation is correct - you could just reduce the house to £450k yourself and get a buyer within 7 to 14 days - and keep the potential £90k profit for yourself.

RHemmings

What @eddddy says is correct. You can get an insulting offer from a home buying company, and then most likely sell it easily for more. 

Is your property competitively priced against others being offered for sale at the moment, or against properties that have recently sold for that much? 

If you want a quick sale there is also a traditional auction. 

MEM62

jolittlejohnhotmail said:

Our property is now very competitively priced.  

That maybe your view but the market is telling you something different.  Property will sell if it is priced right.  

jolittlejohnhotmail said:

This is why I asked about removing it from the market before we approached any home buying companies.  We think they ask estate agents in the locality for valuations and would certainly look on RightMove to see its current asking price.  Then I think they reduce that by 30/35% 😕

You are right that they will offer 35% below market.  However, they will not rely on any recent listing to put a value on it.  They will have their own market sources for assessing the value so removing it from the market will make no difference.  I tried one about a year ago our of curiosity as I was selling a rental property.  I was offered £170k on a flat that I actually sold for £250 using a traditional estate agent.  These companies are only for those in great desperation in my opinion.         

BarelySentientAI

jolittlejohnhotmail said:

Our property is now very competitively priced.  This is why I asked about removing it from the market before we approached any home buying companies.  We think they ask estate agents in the locality for valuations and would certainly look on RightMove to see its current asking price.  Then I think they reduce that by 30/35% 😕

It clearly isn't "very competitively priced" if you are having no offers and almost no viewings.  Or it is and there are just so few possible buyers that none have found it - in which case the quick flip companies won't want it either.

Herzlos

You can always get a quote from them whilst avoiding getting into a contract, and then list for somewhere between what you want and what they are offering.

It may just be easier to drop your asking price to something like £450k fixed price, and then drop it every month or so.

Can you afford to keep it and rent it out?